The 85 Stops Along The API Lifecycle That I Track On

16 Aug 2017

I am preparing a talk for tomorrow, and I needed a new list of each stop along the API lifecycle, and since each of my project exist as Github repositories, and are defined as a YAML and JSON data store, I can simply define a new liquid template for generating a new HTML listing of all the stops along the API lifecycle–after generating this list I figured I’d share here as a story.

Here are the 85 stops along the API lifecycle landscape from my vantage point as the API Evangelist:

I’m always presenting my API lifecycle research as a listing, or in a linear fashion. I always feel like I should be creating an actual lifecycle visualization, but then I always end up feeling like I should just invest in my subway API map work, and create more robust way to represent how the API lifecycle truly looks.

Anyways, these 85 areas represent the scope of my API industry research, and provide a framework for thinking about not just the individual API lifecycle, but also the bigger picture of our API operations and partnerships. Not all of these areas apply to every API provider, but they do provide one perspective of the API landscape that all API providers can learn from. If there are any other stops along the lifecycle you think should be represented, I’d love to hear your thoughts. For example, I’m looking at adding two new areas: 1) training, and 2) fake. Helping me track on how API providers are training internally, with partners, and 3rd party developers, as well as think about the world of API driven fake news, products, advertising, users, and other illnesses emerging across the landscape.